Electoral reform and PR: An establishment trap

In this video, Alex - a Socialist Appeal supporter and Vice Chair of Truro and Falmouth CLP - explains why the left should steer clear of the demand to make proportional representation a key plank of Labour party policy.

Not only is this a distraction, but it can serve to push Labour further down the path of class collaboration with the Liberal Democrats and sections of the Tory Party - both of whom represent the interests of capitalism.

The truth is that Labour can win under any voting system, but only on the basis of appealing to wide layers of the working class with bold, socialist policies and class-based demands - not tweaking the electoral system!

Therefore, the main task of the left is to clear out the agents of big business in the Labour party, by fighting for key demands like open selection of MPs, MPs on workers' wages, and a radical, socialist programme.

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[upinsmokeroc]

Great vid completely agree with you, but sort out that poster half fallen down comrade, it was really putting me off haha

[christophergould]

I agree.Amongst other things you have to win arguments within your own party, convince the thinking part of it.You should not ask for a sort of sham reinforcement from the outside if you feel you are losing those arguments.One other thing;there are various formats for electionds in British politics and the Liberal Democrats do badly under them all.They lack popularity and are not doing badly under an electoral system that is against them.We want a Labour party that is popular and a Labour government that does things based on that popularity. not just keep the Tories out.

[tonyy]

I agree with what you say about the risk of Labour Libdem alliances, but surely PR would weaken the Labour right wing in favour of independent left and green candidates. My take on PR is that Starmer will never implement it, even if he promises to, because just like Blair he knows it'll hurt the right wing of the party just as much as hurting the tories. Please enlighten my (mis)understanding.

[kavabean]

You say we must transform the bourgeoisie-controlled Labour party. What is your historical precedent? Where has such a political party ever been transformed into a party actually fighting for working class control of the means of production, i.e.a party of the proletariat? Without such a precedent what convinces you that it is possible? Surely workers have been trying to do this around the world for at least 100 years. What has changed to make it possible now where before it repeatedly failed.

[markplayer]

Chose PR and say goodbye to a Labour government for evermore.

[barquerojuancarlos]

You'd think that "right-wing labor think tanks" is an oxymoron ...

[kaasci]

I think the mistake you're making here is thinking its possible anymore for a socialist Labour party to win; the fact is the ideological apperatus of the state is perfected to the point where simplying voting in a socialist government isn't going to work. Any reform to the electorial system is more a matter of if its a quality of life improvement than if it'll bring us closer to socialism, imo...

[arsenalrocka]

ngl i disagree with this one lads. the electoral map is gerrymandered to fuck and only gonna get worse

[malcombrown]

The communists/socialists were against traditional cultures. They banned Ukrainians, Russians, Chinese, Koreans and amongst others from: wearing traditional clothing, listening to their folk music, practising their religions, replacing folk architecture with 'socialist realism'( Also 'Functionalism' and the like), (sometimes) even speaking their languages. I do not see any reason why those Filipino communist rebel fighters would do the same thing and generally, I don't see any reason why most Marxist-Leninists and Maoists would have abandoned this habit.